Back to Europe: Geografía de una inmigración sin precedentes.

There were 370 million people within the European Union in 1997. Among them, 18 million were foreigners, roughly the 4.8% of the total population. Ten years later, there are 25 million foreigners in the EU (i.e. 5% of the aggregate population in the domain). These foreigners are settled mainly in five specific countries: Germany (7.2 million), Spain (4.6), France (3.5), England (3) and Italy (2.4). For the period 1990-2007, with the only exception of Latvia, every European country has seen its foreign population steadily growing. In some countries the growth has been breathtaking. That is the case of Spain which ended the period second, after Germany. In this paper we describe, grosso modo, this immigration process, its main factors, and the consequences for the European population and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]